page_title: Kuchinoerabu-jima
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Kuchinoerabu-jima / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: The eruption of Kuchinoerabu-jima, located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. 日本語: 口永良部島の噴火。
context_page_description: Kuchinoerabu-jima, is one of the Satsunan Islands, usually classed with the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 38.04 km² in area, has a population of 147. The island can only be reached by boat as it has no airport. There is regular ferry service with Yakushima, which is about 15 km to the east. Travel time is approximately 1 hour. The islanders are dependent mainly on fishing, agriculture and seasonal tourism. The entire island is within the borders of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park.
context_section_description: Kuchinoerabu-jima is located 130 kilometres (70 nmi) south of Kagoshima. The island is of volcanic origin, and has an area of approximately 38 square kilometres (15 sq mi) with a length of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) and width of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). The highest elevations on the island are Furudake (古岳), with a height of 657 metres (2,156 ft) and Shindake (新岳), with a height of 640 metres (2,100 ft) above sea level. There are numerous hot springs on the island.
  The island is an active volcano which has erupted several times during the modern period, including 24 December 1933, when several people were killed when lava masses buried several villages. In 1980, multiple explosion craters appeared along an 800-metre (2,600 ft) north-south fissure on the slope east of Shindake. Shindake erupted again on 4 August 2014, generating a pyroclastic flow, but with no injuries or fatalities.  The main crater erupted on the morning of 29 May 2015, prompting a level 5 alert level and the evacuation of the island. 
  The island’s climate is classified as subtropical, with a rainy season from May through September.
caption: Eruption 2015
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